100 Most Influential Slogans

The 100 Most Influential Taglines Since 1948. There’s always room to quibble with this selection or that, but on the whole it’s a pretty solid list. I probably wouldn’t put “Got milk?” Number 1, for instance, but it obviously belongs in the Top 10.

Speaking of which, here they are:

Slogans:

1. Got milk? (1993) California Milk Processor Board
2. Don’t leave home without it. (1975) American Express
3. Just do it. (1988) Nike
4. Where’s the beef? (1984) Wendy’s
5. You’re in good hands with Allstate. (1956) Allstate Insurance
6. Think different. (1998) Apple Computer
7. We try harder. (1962) Avis
8. Tastes great, less filling. (1974) Miller Lite
9. Melts in your mouth, not in your hands. (1954) M&M Candies
10. Takes a licking and keeps on ticking. (1956) Timex

Jingles:
1. My bologna has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R. (1960s) Oscar Mayer
2. Plop plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is. (1970s) Alka-Seltzer
3. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. (1971) State Farm Insurance
4. Double your pleasure, double your fun. (1959) Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum
5. Be all that you can be. (1981) U.S. Army
6. For all you do, this Bud’s for you. (1970s) Budweiser
7. A little dab’ll do ya. (1950s) Brylcreem
8. It’s the real thing. (1970) Coca-Cola
9. Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man. (1970s) Ace Hardware
10. You deserve a break today. (1971) McDonald’s

There are a couple down the list from my lifetime I can’t recall ever hearing. I’d replace at least one with a real no-brainer: Are you ready for some football? Other alternatives – such as “I’ve got a headache THIS big – and it’s got Excedrin written all over it.” – also present themselves. Any others come to mind?

Via *** Dave, who thinks the lists would make good sources for blog post titles.

FILED UNDER: Popular Culture, , ,
Dodd Harris
About Dodd Harris
Dodd, who used to run a blog named ipse dixit, is an attorney, a veteran of the United States Navy, and a fairly good poker player. He contributed over 650 pieces to OTB between May 2007 and September 2013. Follow him on Twitter @Amuk3.

Comments

  1. William d'Inger says:

    Pepsi Cola hits the spot
    Twelve full ounces, that’s a lot
    Twice as much, for a nickel too
    Pepsi Cola is the drink for you.

  2. William d'Inger says:

    Burma-Shave had something like 600 jingles. Each jingle was posted on a series of small signs on the shoulders of highways. One drove from sign to sign trying to anticipate the the punch line.

    If you’re old enough to remember that, go have yourself some Geritol (or Hadicol if you’re a good old boy from the South).

  3. William d'Inger says:

    Dammit, Dodd, you’ve kicked in the door to the jingle crypt of my mind. Jingles are spilling out all over the place.

    Brusha, brusha, brusha
    Here’s the new Ipana
    With the brand new flavor
    So friendly to your teeth.

    See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet
    America is asking you to call
    See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet
    America’s the greatest land of all.

    I’d like to teach the world to sing
    In perfect harmony
    I’d like to buy the world a Coke
    And keep it company

  4. Dodd says:
  5. James Joyner says:

    SEE ROCK CITY

    1
  6. Dodd says:

    Anyone who’s ever driven the 80 will get this one:

  7. bains says:

    FWIW, those of us blessed with not having raging headaches, the Excedrin pitch fell on deaf ears. Similarly, the stupid ABC’s MNF intro. I turned off more games because of that song.

  8. misterarthur says:

    The Heartbeat of America -Chevrolet
    Be All You can be – Army
    “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” -The Clapper

  9. Bithead says:

    “There you go again…”

    “This is Bob”

    “Go West, young man!”

  10. ” It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.”

  11. Hangtown Bob says:

    “It’s not how long you make it….. It’s how you make it long.”

    Benson and Hedges 100MM cigarettes (1970’s)

  12. interested says:

    The “Meow Meow Meow Meow” jingle for Meow Mix has to be up there. when it became popular MeowMix put Purina on the map for cat food. It is no longer a Purina product.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JuVHCJVYf4

  13. rodney dill says:

    I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.

  14. rodney dill says:

    Just a few more here

  15. DL says:

    I’m still marching to the old Lava soap commerecial -I can’t stop

    L A V A, L A V A, etc. Sounds a bit like the marching monkeys in the Wizard of Oz

    I didn’t notice did you get the “Double your pleasure -double your fun, with Doublemint, Doublemint, Dunblemint Gum!”